[Buddha-l] On Hemorrhoids and Sitting Meditation

[Katherine Masis]

Joanna asks:
 
So you seem to be saying that the heavy samurai approach at that
center insisted on holding back the bowels for too many hours,
instead of going for relief when the call came? 
If not that, what?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
No, the "samurai approach" consisted of practicing sitting meditation as if it were the sole purpose and element of Zen Buddhism.  The few ceremonies (performed almost identically every year) were supposed to provide a bit of the "heart element" to balance out the drive to sit, sit, sit.  When it was sesshin (retreat) time there was a rigorous sitting schedule to follow, which was understandable.  But when there were no sesshin, the center had a policy of establishing extra practice hours (at home) for several weeks at a time to which center members would commit, in writing and via a ceremony, "voluntarily."  I add the quotation marks because there was a lot of peer pressure (and pressure from the leader) to do this.  
 
By the way, in his humorous book *Ambivalent Zen,* Lawrence Shainberg also mentions that he developed the hemmies by excessive sitting.
 
Katherine